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With the Compliments of the 


MISSISSIPPI HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 

DUNBAR ROW^LAND, 
Secretai 


The Capitol, 

Jackson, Mississippi. 


August 7, 1920. 



Good Citizenship The First Aim And 
Object of Education 


An Address Delivered at the 


Commencement Exercises of All Saint’s College 
Vicksburg, Mississippi, June 2, 1920 


BY 

DUNBAR ROWLAND, LL. D. 

State Historian of Mississippi 






n. af D. 

18 iy2a 






GOOD CITIZENSHIP THE FIRST AIM AND OBJECT OF 
EDUCATION. 


An Address Delivered at the Comencement Exercises of All 
Saint’s College, Vicksburg, Miss., June 2, 1920. 

Ladies and Gentlemen :— 

When one is called on to speak to an audience like this, com¬ 
posed of young students at the close of a scholastic year, two sen¬ 
sations are experienced by the speaker. The first is that of 
pleasure at being given the opportunity of congratulating both 
instructors and pupils on the successful termination of the la¬ 
bors of the year, and to this we should prefer yielding, but the 
feeling of responsibility which is always felt in addressing young 
students with impressionable minds outweighs the former and 
must take first place today. This feeling of responsibility is 
intensified by the thought that words may be spoken here today 
that might influence some young life to high and worthy effort, 
or to the contrary something may be inadvertently said that may 
quench the fires of a laudable ambition and discourage some 
brave endeavor in after days. My subject is favorable to the 
former, and I trust that out of the thoughts that I present may 
be borne to you a message of wholesome optimism and encourage¬ 
ment that will induce you to strive for those things that go to 
make true womanhood and stimulate you to renewed efforts in 
the pursuit of knowledge. 

I am not among those who hold that there is a difference in 
the intellectual capacity of man and woman, neither do I think 
that all governmental talent is confined to to the male sex. An 
address prepared as suitable pabulum for the young man is 
equally suitable for the young woman. If I make no difference 
between them in the treatment of the subject which I have select¬ 
ed for your consideration I hope you will not shrink from the re¬ 
sponsibility, and I do not believe that you will, since the new 
forces of civilization have expected much, and will continue to 
expect much, of you. I know of no more fatal blunder in a 


— 4 — 

speaker in addressing young ladies than to confine himself to the 
sentimental alone. Life’s rhapsodies—the music of babbling 
brooks, mystic moonlight, and the divination of the starry 
spheres, however beautiful, belong only in their rightful place, 
and may heaven grant that you may never be without their in¬ 
fluence on your lives, but the young woman of today is confront¬ 
ed with the stern lesson of citizenship and the task of helping to 
reconstruct an almost shattered world, and her feet must be pre¬ 
pared for new paths, and her mind exercised along new lines of 
thought. 

When England, the mother of the Anglo-Saxon race, con¬ 
ferred on woman the rights and duties of suffrage as a just rec¬ 
ognition of her service in war, when civilization was at stake, 
and man was about to return to a savage state, she, though tardi¬ 
ly acknowledging the truth, established a precedent in govern¬ 
ment which in time will have universal application in all civil¬ 
ized countries. The subject then which I shall discuss with you 
today is good citizenship as the first aim and object of education. 
I believe that it is one about which many of us are thinking at 
the present time, since on this ideal depends the continuance of 
our civilization, and through it must come the uplift of man. 
This thought which stresses the importance of the individual in 
the higher development of society and dignifies his efforts in the 
great task of shaping a more perfect civilization—always the 
dream of a few souls, has been animating the mind of the sage, 
philosopher and poet for all past ages; yet more, has been taking 
practical form and shape in the world’s legislation and affairs 
for the last half century. Not only do our laws and sermons 
reflect this advance in man’s thought, but the fugitive verse and 
essay, coming alike from crowded mart and village seclusion and 
cast into the monster jaws of the printing press to find a place 
in some out-of-the-way corner of the great metropolitan daily, 
give evidence that many souls have caught this radiant vision 
and are bearing its message to their fellows of every race and 
clime. And the burden of this message is that all men and wo¬ 
men individually as well as collectively are to take part in the 
future higher order of civilization upon which the world expect¬ 
antly waits, and for which its strongest and most enlightened 


— 5 ~ 


races have suffered most to secure and preserve. 

So I bring to you a world-wide aspiration which has touched 
the heart and thrilled the mind of all people and races in pro¬ 
portion to their vision and uplift. It is a far cry from slavery 
and serfdom, when men in the aggregate were the tools and in¬ 
struments to further the projects of a few individuals, and this 
new creed that makes each life individually responsible in the 
efforts of society to secure the welfare of the human race, that 
teaches that all law and government are designed for the protec¬ 
tion, development and happiness of the individual, and proves 
that it is upon the shoulders of the rank and file of its popula¬ 
tion, trained in all the functions of good citizenship, that a gov¬ 
ernment must rest if it is to endure. That this is the aim and 
object of education is the thought with which I wish to impress 
you today. 

We sometimes show a tendency in our educational ideals 
and methods to forget the real object to be attained in the men¬ 
tal and moral training of the young, and to overlook the true pur¬ 
pose of education. But out of many systems and modes the 
truth is gradually forcing itself upon us that the aim of all edu¬ 
cation for a man or for a woman is to make him or her a good 
citizen; whatever else is added in the way of scholarship in the 
education of youth, the first requisite is that they should be 
trained in all the requirements of good citizenship. Please bear 
in mind that I use the word citizenship in the broadest possible 
sense, that of man’s and woman’s service to their kind. 

It is the history of human progress and civilization that the 
advancement of man has been secured by a slow and gradual 
process of improvement. From a state of savagery, in which 
the power of brute force was terribly triumphant, we have, 
through many centuries, evolved a system of life and government 
founded upon law, order and justice, and have reached that high 
plane where we realize the importance of providing for the men¬ 
tal and moral uplift of the people as a whole. In this painful 
progress towards better conditions the methods employed in the 
training of youth have undergone and are still undergoing radi¬ 
cal changes for the better. Though it is not necessary for the 


— 6 — 

purpose of this discussion to make a survey of the educational 
systems of the past, it should be said in passing that before the 
idea of popular government took firm hold upon the minds of 
men, and aroused them to the full appreciation of the necessity 
of universal education as the surest means of maintaining good 
government, the avenues to knowledge were closed to the masses 
and open only to the few. 

Under the operation of an educational system that provided 
for the few only, serfdom, not citizenship, was the general condi¬ 
tion of man, and ignorance, superstition, tyranny and imposture 
were characteristic of the times. The overthrow of such condi¬ 
tions was brought about after centuries of conflict between the 
classes and the people. When the idea, which had struggled for 
recognition in more than one of the great civilizations of the 
past, that government should rest upon the consent of the gov¬ 
erned triumphed in America, the greatest step in the history of 
mankind was taken in the direction of good citizenship; and it 
may well be called the American idea in practical and uniform 
adaption to government. It has for its foundation stone the 
principle that in a state where the people are self-governing, the 
public welfare depends upon the intelligence, integrity and vir¬ 
tue of its citizens. If the individual has not had that training 
which fits him for his duties, if he is incapable of performing 
the high office assigned him as a source of political power, his 
country suffers proportionately. The surest foundation of a 
wise and beneficient government in a Democracy is an intelligent 
and moral citizenship; and in recognition of this truth, the 
founders of our Republic, under the leadership of Thomas Jeffer¬ 
son, taught the very great importance of developing the mental 
and moral life of those upon whom rested the welfare and safety 
of the country. The founders of this Republic believe that it 
could never be safe but in the hands of the people themselves; 
and the provision they made for the education and advancement 
of the people is evidence that they believed that it would not be 
safe even in their hands if they were not trained in head and 
heart to meet their responsibilities. 


— 7 — 

In the study of questions like this, you will find the best in¬ 
terpretation in the writings of Thomas Jefferson; and it would 
be well for every man and woman who hopes to perpetuate dem¬ 
ocratic ideals to acquaint themselves thoroughly with the thought 
and doctrine of this great political philosopher and constructive 
statesman. To him more than to any one man are we indebted 
for the principles that have controlled and directed our govern¬ 
ment and shaped our educational policy. In a recent publica¬ 
tion entitled “Master Thoughts of Thomas Jefferson,” many of 
which seem to be the Utopean dreams of Sir Thomas More adapt¬ 
ed and made ready for use of man, we find this very interesting 
formula and method laid down for the primary or fundamental 
education of men, and it applies equally to women: 

“1. To give every citizen the information he needs for the 
transaction of his business. 

2. To enable him to calculate for himself and to express 
and preserve his ideals, his contracts and accounts in writing. 

3. To improve by reading his morals and faculties. 

4. To understand his duties to his neighbor and country, 
and to discharge with competence the functions confided to him 
by either. 

5. To know his rights; to exercise with order and justice 
those he retains; to choose with discretion the fiduciary of those 
he delegates, and to notice their conduct with diligence, with 
candor and judgment. 

6. And in general to observe with intelligence and faith¬ 
fulness all the social relations under which he may be placed. ’ ’ 

Mr. Jefferson further held that as an educated citizenship 
was the most important element in national life, it was the duty 
of the State to offer to rich and poor alike an educational oppor¬ 
tunity without which a high type of citizenship could not be at¬ 
tained. That the education of youth is an obligation of the 
State is not denied in any quarter today, but in the application 


— 8 — 


of that great ideal there are dangers to be avoided as well as ob¬ 
jects to be attained. To direct the educational forces of the 
State into channels so as to best subserve the purposes for which 
they were set in motion, should be the study of every thoughtful 
educator, and every public official who influences this branch 
of our government. 

If the training of men and women goes no deeper than the 
cultivation of the mind; if it occupies itself with the develop¬ 
ment of the memory alone, and seeks to convert the brain into a 
storehouse of information, it fails to develop that mental and 
spiritual power in men and women which is so much needed in 
the advancement of the world today. If an educational system 
develops nothing more than pedantry, if it creates nothing bet¬ 
ter than pride of opinion, if it fosters nothing higher than love 
of self and the desire for self-aggrandizement, it has established 
a false standard of life, and fails to accomplish the high purpose 
for which it was instituted. If on the other hand the high de¬ 
velopment of intellectual power and insight arouses the spirit¬ 
ual forces of the individual, which in turn by the influence of 
example tend to promote the general welfare, then can it truly 
be said to be fulfilling its highest mission. 

Education in its truest sense means the training of the body, 
mind and spirit for the duties of good citizenship, and in that 
term I include all the basic relations of man in the construction 
of the social organism. This thought, though it has not receiv¬ 
ed the attention it should, has a permanent lodgment in our in¬ 
stitutions, and to it we owe many of our national characteristics. 
It has left its impress upon the lives of our great leaders of 
thought and action, and has given to the world the American 
type of man, which, in spite of all that may be truthfully said 
against it, is one that leads in the soundest and best civilizations 
of today. And if there are two principles of government held 
in higher esteem than all others by our Republic they are that 
no nation can live in ignorance with impunity, and no country 
can become great that fails to educate the people for the respon¬ 
sibilities of citizenship. To fit the individual to take part in 


— 9 — 

the functions of government is the American ideal of the truest 
use of education. 

The question is, are we enforcing that ideal? Or does it 
represent to us nothing more than a legacy to which we refer and 
make much of on state occasions, but whose very existence is 
forgotten in the formula of the schools. 

I do not wish to be understood as holding the theory that 
this preparation for citizenship is something which is controlled 
and directed entirely by the schools. To narrow education down 
to what is imparted by the schools alone, is to confine it to nar¬ 
row limits indeed. Education of course depends upon the study 
of books and much may be gained from them, but the system 
which depends entirely upon the knowledge gained from this 
source is insufficient, unless that knowledge has come to the in¬ 
dividual in such a shape as to make him an active force in the 
world’s best work. 

In justice to the schools, we should not forget that the train¬ 
ing of the citizens begins first in the home. If it is neglected 
there, if the young and plastic mind is not imbued with worthy 
aspirations, and entertains no conception of right and wrong be¬ 
fore it is placed under the control of the teacher, the chances are 
that the training of the school, however well directed, will re¬ 
sult in failure. Nor can book culture, as necessary and help¬ 
ful as it is in elevating the people, develop the finer perceptions 
in determining right and wrong. This is gained in human 
contact and association and from the examples of those about 
us; for without these aids the ideals gained from books are apt 
to become mere abstractions and fail in their application to daily 
life. It is then in the character of the teacher, the purity of the 
home, the example of those in authority about him, as well as in 
books, that the individual finds the necessary sources in the prep¬ 
aration for good citizenship. That educational system there¬ 
fore which attaches all importance to the standard of scholar¬ 
ship, and none to the character of the teacher, may turn out a 
crop of brilliant intellects but unreliable citizens. And in our 


— 10 — 


country scholarship is not nearly so desirable as reliable citi¬ 
zenship. 

Our population is unlike that of any other of the great coun¬ 
tries of the world. The opportunities of a new and undevelop¬ 
ed land, with its inviting prospect of equal opportunity—that 
guarantee of protection to men’s highest aspiration and efforts— 
have brought t6 our shores a most cosmopolitan population. 
Nothing like it has ever existed before; no other country has 
such a heterogeneous mass of humanity forming its population, 
and no other country has such a task before it, in the education 
and assimilation of such diverse elements. With the great ma¬ 
jority of those coming to us the duties of citizenship are un¬ 
known; they come from countries that suppress with an iron 
hand every movement for the uplift of the masses, and are pro¬ 
ducts of systems of government which have never recognized the 
political, social nor religious rights of the individual. Either 
hard, soulless ecclesiasticism has dwarfed their true spiritual 
powers, or the influence of feudalism has starved their social as¬ 
pirations or the tyranny of political institutions has for genera¬ 
tions bent their backs with heavy burdens. These people are 
transplanted from such environments to a democracy governed 
by the people, and in a short time are clothed with all the rights 
of citizenship. It is not difficult to see the terrible effects on our 
civilization of this transplanted population, if it is allowed to re¬ 
main uninfluenced by the highest ideals of our institutions. Ig¬ 
norance is the greatest menace to a country governed by the 
people. There is no place in our system for the helot nor the 
serf. If the people who are coming to us now fail in their gen¬ 
eration to become good citizens, they are a constant menace to our 
civilization. If their children fail they will effect its ruin, for 
no nation can withstand disintegration from within. And what¬ 
ever else is included in our intellectual aspiration, the great task 
of education in America is the development of universal good 
citizenship. Nor have we thus far been a failure in our efforts 
to achieve this greatest of all governmental aspirations. It is 
the unusual advantages offered in our political, social and educa- 


— 11 — 


tional systems, combined with the influence of millions of self- 
respecting, aspiring freemen that have enabled this nation to as¬ 
similate the foreign-bom population that has, during the past 
years, been dumped upon our shores. Yet though our institu¬ 
tions are ideal and have in the main stood the most exacting tests, 
conditions with us are far from what we should and must have 
to secure our final triumph. 

If, as one historian has asserted, under unfavorable con¬ 
ditions we, in this country, finally grow to be tolerable men 
and women is there not work and enough for us to do in better¬ 
ing those conditions in order that we may not turn out merely 
“tolerable men and women,” but such men and women as will 
be a helpful influence in shaping and directing a civilization 
straining under conditions wholly different from those of the 
past ? One, too, whose need and demand for right methods have 
never been so insistent as they are today. 

If we then have awakened to a knowledge of the supreme 
importance of the development of the individual in the present- 
day civilization, and especially among self-governing peoples, it 
is not strange that we are interested in the methods and influ¬ 
ences that improve men and lift them up to a higher scale of life. 
And the citizen, what of him? If an American, at the outset, 
he is the beneficiary of the almost divine governmental theory— 
equal opportunity and equal protection for all men. And view 
it as we may, the success of the principles of free home, free gov¬ 
ernment and free church depend upon the wisdom and restraint 
he exercises as the recipient of such rich blessings. The obliga¬ 
tion which he has assumed is no light one. Obedience to the 
very law which proceeds from him as a source of political power 
is one of the strongest indications of his right and ability to par¬ 
ticipate in the affairs of government; and one of the surest proofs 
of his good citizenship is his reverence for this first postulate of 
good government. 

The surest evidence of the spread of enlightment and civili¬ 
zation among a people is respect for law. On the other hand, 
the surest evidence of the existence of ignorance and barbarism 


— 12 


in a state or nation is the prevalence of a feeling of contempt for 
the laws by which they are governed. 

It is a custom in France to carve over the portals of the 
buildings dedicated to the service of the nation, the words, ‘ ^ Lib¬ 
erty, Equality, Fraternity,’^ as a means of impressing national 
ideals upon the people. I believe that if the ideals that have 
developed and are shaping the civilization of the best races of 
the earth were held before the eyes of the world, not one would 
explain their civilization or voice its future hope more clearly 
than the one contained in the words, in the triumph of law is 
liberty. 

If therefore reverence for law is to remain a national char¬ 
acteristic in this country, it must be made a part of the people’s 
lives. It should be taught in every home, and impressed by pre¬ 
cept and example in every school, college and university in the 
land; it should find expression in the daily life of the citizen and 
be enthroned in every church, in every court and every legisla¬ 
tive hall of the nation. 

In those civilizations where reverence for law is felt by the 
people, the ultimate destiny of man is safeguarded, let them be 
rich or poor, high or low, white or black; and in no conduct is 
reverence for law more evident than in the manner in which cit¬ 
izens of the country take part in public matters. If they take 
no interest in public affairs, and allow others to bear the burdens 
of government, they are in a sense a party to its failure if failure 
there be; and the condition of public affairs depends largely upon 
the manner in which the citizen fulfills his public obligations. 

One of the dangers that threaten us in our own State, and 
statistics show that like conditions prevail elsewhere, is the grow¬ 
ing indisposition of men to meet the requirements of law in 
the exercise of the right to vote. It was stated in a Mississippi 
paper a few years since that there were 30,000 white men in the 
State who had disfranchised themselves by failing to pay a poll 
tax of $2.00 annually. Such indifference to public privilege and 
duty is a dangerous symptom. But there is even a graver side 


~13 — 


to the question, for it often occurs that after disregarding and 
violating the law by failing to meet its requirements, delinquent 
voters are allowed to participate in the affairs of government. 
Such contempt for law will soon bring our political institutions 
into reproach, good government will be impossible and corrup¬ 
tion will be the prevailing condition. 

Again the evidence of good citizenship is shown in the atti¬ 
tude that the voter takes upon public questions arising for solu¬ 
tion. There is a moral side to every social, political and eco¬ 
nomic problem, and it is easy to discern the indiwduars stand¬ 
ards of integrity by the men he prefers and the measures he 
espouses. 

The surest evidence of faithfulness to the obligation of citi¬ 
zenship is that devotion to the public good which makes self-in¬ 
terest give way when it conflicts with the welfare of the public. 
Self-interest seeks in numberless ways to secure special favors 
from legislation with little regard for the general good. 

The disposition to take from the pockets of the poor a part 
of their daily earnings through connivance and unfair business 
methods, a system known as profiteering in life’s necessities, is 
one of the worst forms of bad citizenship in this country, for, as 
Ruskin says in more polished phrase but employing the same 
idea, the system that robs a man of his health, happiness and 
prosperity is as murderous in its effects as the bullet that sum¬ 
marily puts an end to his life. Further, the injury inflicted 
is perhaps more deleterious to society, though in the former case 
it is, in a sense, not intended, while in the latter it is premedi¬ 
tated. It is the love of self, and the desire for self-aggrandize¬ 
ment that faces us with such a bold, hard front today. It has 
invaded our most sacred realms; the Church sometimes sees her 
spiritual power perish in its withering grasp, society has been 
the victim of its deadening touch, and every branch of our gov¬ 
ernment has felt its blighting influence. 

One of the greatest battles to be fought in this jountry by 
the people lies around the combination between business and leg- 


— 14 — 


islation, a combination which entrenches and protects numberless 
evils in our complex commercial system, and which upsets en¬ 
tirely the democratic ideal of equal opportunity for all and spe¬ 
cial privileges to none. It might be asked how are we to ac¬ 
complish its destruction. Surely not by lawless outbursts that 
prove our total unfitness to take part in the task. You cannot 
put down law breaking with law breaking; you cannot overcome 
evil with evil. To overcome injustice and wrong, you must 
wield the mightier power of Justice. And it is for a struggle 
between these contending forces in the maintenance of our insti¬ 
tutions and civilization, that we need in this country a moral, 
well-trained and educated citizenship. The power of your dis¬ 
approval lies in your own standards of right, and your ability to 
correct evil lies in the weight of your influence for good. The 
public opinion that condemns wrong must emanate from a trust¬ 
ed source, or else it is powerless to accomplish any good result. 
If the great body of people are to maintain a place and influence 
in the perpetuation of our institutions, they must in themselves 
represent the best ideals that characterize those institutions; for 
it is only by a stern application of like high truths to their own 
lives, that they can demand and maintain a correct standard of 
public service. Now this is the common task and common duty 
of the citizen, and his education should look mainly to his prep¬ 
aration for this work and it is one that concerns us deeply as 
a people and as a nation. 

Montesquieu, the great French political philosopher, in his 
‘ ‘ Spirit of Laws, ’ ’ says: ‘ ‘ If a Republic be small, it is destroyed 
by a foreign force; if it be large, it is ruined by an internal im¬ 
perfection.” The American people should ponder these words 
carefully. We believe that we have established the best plan of 
government in existence, but, though we have faith in the prin¬ 
ciples that make our institutions, we have no assurance of their 
perpetuity, and it will require no light effort upon our part to 
prevent a failure. If we fail, it will be through some universal 
imperfection in ourselves; and if we triumph, our success will 
lie in the high moral and intellectual power of the people as a 
whole. 

Finally, we are social beings, and like most of the animal 


15 — 


species we love to go in droves and herds. Our evolved form of 
civilization makes us more dependent upon each other than are 
the other creatures. A pair of birds can doubtless soar and sing, 
and build and multiply as happily and successfully alone as 
when surrounded by hundreds of their kind, but man for his per' 
feet development needs the home, the church, the State, and all 
the contrivances of civilization. If he meets in an acceptable 
manner, the requirements of these institutions in a given area, 
he will soon find himself in unison with the great movement for 
the uplift of men of every race and clime. 

But for all this dark hour the light is breaking. In much 
of our legislation we are safeguarding humanity. It took so¬ 
ciety a long time to realize that it was the duty of the State to 
care for the broken and stranded wrecks of humanity, marring 
its perfection, and the result largely of its own misdoing. The 
realization of that obligation has not only developed a spirit to 
relieve misfortune, but a desire and an organized effort for its 
prevention. 

In a civilization influenced by these ideals man soon becomes 
imbued with the spirit of universal helpfulness, a characteristic 
that differentiates the present advanced civilizations from those 
of the past. Nor do the waiting and eager peoples of the lower 
and weaker races let him remain in ignorance of their need. 
Modern science and invention have swept away the isolation of 
communities, states and nations. Nations no longer live unto 
themselves, but are knit together in bonds of common interests 
and common purposes, and are animated by the spirit of univer¬ 
sal brotherhood as never before. Though the last assertion may 
sound unduly optimistic at this time when man seem« to be man’s 
worst enemy, there is substantial proof of it. Let an earth¬ 
quake destroy a foreign city and the ships of every nation bear 
food and clothing to the stricken people. Let the news of any 
great calamity be flashed across the deep sea cables that bind the 
nations together, and an expression of the world’s sympathy im¬ 
mediately follows. If the safety and peace of any land or peo¬ 
ple are endangered through the conflicting interests of rival 
powers, every effort is made by allied nations to adjust the dif- 


— 16 — 


ferences in an equitable manner, and if this cannot be attained 
such nations are willing and have proved themselves willing to 
spend their blood to the last drop to uphold justice among men. 

The law of social evolution then, notwithstanding the ap¬ 
parent breakdown in our civilization, is in active operation, and 
as our vision enlarges we shall all, like our immortal Wilson 
whose rare spirit recognizes no confines nor limits in his interest 
in mankind, become citizens of the world. 

And now, young ladies, I would not have you think from 
what has gone before that I am unmindful of your woman’s 
nature and God given responsibilities. It would be a false the¬ 
ory that would teach you that woman and man in their nature 
are wholly alike. They are not more different in their frame 
and semblance than in their nature. Their intuitions, meth¬ 
ods of reasoning and physical powers are not the same, nor have 
been since the cave man, with club in hand, slew the beasts of 
the forests and gave the flesh to the woman and her children. 
There is the man nature and the woman nature, but while each 
manifests itself in its own way one is as capable as the other, and 
as necessary in helping the human race onward and upward and 
equal rights in the performance of the task should be the status 
for both. While no training of any kind nor joint effort will 
ever make their natures the same the best results are obtained by 
a combination of their forces. The woman will always be large¬ 
ly occupied with the mental and moral needs of humanity and 
will largely be interested in the human side of life. She leaves 
the feeding and clothing of the race to man, but its happiness, 
freedom from pain, and mental and spiritual welfare have al¬ 
ways claimed her thought and will always be her task. In this 
field lies her chief claim to equal rights and privileges in gov¬ 
ernment. 

That woman will exercise a purifying influence in legisla¬ 
tion and government none of us can for a moment doubt, but no 
matter how intellectual she may become, and what efficiency she 
may develop in her varied activities she must always remain the 
mother of the race, the nourisher, guardian and friend of little 
children, the comforter and joy of her mate, and keeper of his 
home, the loving sister of mankind, and the good citizen that she 
has ever been. 


W 275 83 






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